Saturday's letters: Nursing homes

Saturday

Mar 23, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Nursing homes

To the editor: This was regarding an article in the Times-News on March 1 about Medicare paying $5.1 billion to bad nursing homes.

To the editor: This was regarding an article in the Times-News on March 1 about Medicare paying $5.1 billion to bad nursing homes.This amount was paid in the year 2009.Is there no such thing as inspectors or bookkeepers that are supposed to oversee and check their reports?Not only are residents often going without crucial help, how is a person to know which nursing home is honest and doing the right kind of elderly care?We have the Internal Revenue Service checking on our income taxes. Why not put a czar in charge of inspecting skilled nursing homes?Maybe they could bring into government some much-needed money.Bob BehmerHendersonville

To the editor: The month of February was designated as Black History Month. Carter G. Woodson, the father of black history, organized the first Negro History Week. Later it was extended to a month.Woodson, the son of former slaves, taught himself to read between back-breaking jobs in the fields. He financed his formal education by working in coal mines. He admonished blacks that “if a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the world and stands in danger of becoming exterminated.”I challenge every black child to dream — not just during a designated month but every month. Every dream is a goal with a date on it; if you can conceive it, believe it, you can achieve it.Don’t let anyone steal your dream. Make the decision to take a positive attitude, take pride in yourself and what you do, work hard and stay with it.“A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”Dorothy MeansHendersonville